DigitalBridge Group Inc. Sells 124,300 Shares of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. $TDS

Key Points

• DigitalBridge reduced its stake by 35.5%, selling 124,300 shares of Telephone and Data Systems and leaving it with 226,000 shares worth $8,868,000 at the end of the quarter.
• Several other institutions made large moves—Oaktree bought a new ~$144.7M stake and Carronade increased its position to 3,392,500 shares—leaving about 80% of the stock owned by hedge funds and institutions.
• Analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $53.33 target; TDS recently beat EPS expectations ($0.32 vs. $0.09), posted 12% revenue growth, and pays a $0.04 quarterly dividend (~0.4% yield).

DigitalBridge Group Inc. lowered its position in Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. (NYSE:TDS - Free Report) by 35.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 226,000 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock after selling 124,300 shares during the period. DigitalBridge Group Inc. owned about 0.20% of Telephone and Data Systems worth $8,868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oaktree Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the third quarter worth about $144,732,000. Carronade Capital Management LP increased its position in Telephone and Data Systems by 239.3% during the 2nd quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP now owns 3,392,500 shares of the Wireless communications provider's stock valued at $120,705,000 after purchasing an additional 2,392,500 shares during the period. Rubric Capital Management LP bought a new position in Telephone and Data Systems in the third quarter worth approximately $62,784,000. Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $55,395,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in shares of Telephone and Data Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at about $22,531,000. 80.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on TDS. Weiss Ratings raised Telephone and Data Systems from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Telephone and Data Systems from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Telephone and Data Systems from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 1st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Telephone and Data Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.33.

Telephone and Data Systems Price Performance

TDS stock opened at $42.75 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.95. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.07 and a fifty-two week high of $47.79. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -65.76 and a beta of 0.34.

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 20th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $330.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $319.28 million. Telephone and Data Systems had a negative net margin of 0.21% and a positive return on equity of 2.25%. Telephone and Data Systems's revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.10) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. will post -0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Telephone and Data Systems Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.04 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Telephone and Data Systems's payout ratio is currently -24.62%.

Telephone and Data Systems Profile

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc NYSE: TDS is a diversified telecommunications company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through its subsidiaries, the company provides a broad array of communications services, including wireless voice and data, wireline broadband and voice, cable television, and managed IT and cloud solutions. Its two primary operating units—TDS Telecom and U.S. Cellular—serve residential, business and wholesale customers across the United States.

TDS Telecom focuses on delivering broadband internet, digital voice, video and data communications services in primarily rural and suburban markets.

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